What would she do in Felice place?

What would she do if her brother went missing?

The answer was everything. She would do everything in her power to find him. And no matter how much she wanted to believe that there was no debt between her and Anastasio it wasn't true. He saved her life. Twice. What if she got him in trouble?

Sofia woke up in the morning with a mood so horrible that she decided she psychically can't get out of bed.

"Fia, why aren't you getting ready for school?" Francesco asked quietly after entering her room.

She muttered something unintelligible.

"Are you sick? It doesn't feel like you have a fever" Francesco said while checking her temperature with a palm of his hand.

"No, I'm just in a bad mood" she muttered, knowing it sounds lame.

"Why? Is someone bothering you at school?" Francesco asked, instantly concerned.

"No. I just need to stay at home today" She mumbled and covered her head under the bedsheets so he won't see her.

"Baby, what's going on?" He asked and she instantly started tearing out.

"Go away" she yelled frustrated. She didn't want to be seen like this, she didn't want to be consoled. She wanted to be alone.

"Sofia"

"Leave!" Now she really yelled. Loudly. Gosh. She hated herself for acting like this. Things were not good, things were terrible in fact. Mainly because Sofia's major trust issues came back like a wrecking ball.

She couldn't let anyone see her pain, she couldn't open up because of her major fear of getting hurt when she felt most vulnerable. Now she just wanted to hide from the world, build walls that no one can pass through. So no one can hurt her.

"You can stay home today," Francesco said quietly, leaving just like she wished. She felt horrible for yelling at him. "But you have to eat breakfast. I will ask Clara do remember about that, okay?"

Sofia nodded silently.

That response satisfied Francesco enough because despite feeling worried he left her room. He knew she needed some time to calm down.

***

Today, the house was empty. After a few hours of lying in bed, she got up to get a glass of water and to stretch her legs.

She was still in her pajamas when the bell ring made her jump in fear. She opened the door just to be greeted by delivery men with a huge package entering her hallway. Security staff members were all watching them like hawks.

"Sign here please," the delivery man said and Sofia nodded and did as they asked. With surprise, she noted that she was the intended recipient of this package, not one of her brothers. Someone send it to her. The man also handed her a letter.

"Do you need help with installing it?" He asked, referring to the package.

She shook her head slowly in denial.

"N-no need, thank you,"

She didn't know if she wants to instal anything yet.

The moment they left Sofia tried to open the letter but someone grabbed her shoulder gently in the indication to stop. It was Raul.

"I will open it for you"

"Why?" Sofia asked.

"To see if it's safe"

"Raul, I want to read it" she pleaded.

"I should give it to your brothers first," he said with reluctance.

"Please?" She asked.

He sighed and opened it up, to see if there was anything inside other than a paper. It seemed to be okay so he handed it to Sofia, without reading the text. She was very grateful for that.

"Can I see what's inside of that package? Look, I am the recipient"

Raul slowly nodded and he ripped up the paper.

Holy shit. It was Salvadore Dali painting. The one she tried to buy but failed. Rosario bought it just to send it to her.

"Can it stay here like that?" She asked referring to the huge painting in the hall.

"I will make an arrangement to move it to the more appropriate place" Raul suggested and Sofia nodded in response. There was one more thing she needed to deal with.

The letter.

She climbed upstairs and locked herself in her room. She took a deep breath and started reading.

Dear sister,

I consider meeting you a miracle. I've thought you're lost forever.

I'm sure you have a lot of questions and I will answer them all when we meet, I promise. For now, I want to give you the most basic information. Yes, our father knew about your mother pregnancy. He was overjoyed when he learned he will have a daughter. He was a widower for a very long time before he found someone he truly loves, he treasured Catarina very much.

But their love was never meant to be. As soon as Ianniello discovered your mother's affair he terrorized her into abandoning her children and my father. One day she was gone, nowhere to be found. Father tried to look for her but Ianniello knew how to cover her tracks. He did everything to make sure they will never meet again, out of his pettiness.

When our father was on his death bed I promised him that I will bring you home and take care of you. Just like a father would. I will not resign from that promise.

I am sorry you had to find me, I am sorry it took so long for us to reunite. You will be home soon.

Yours truly

Rosario

That was a very polite letter for someone who gave a vibe of a person that doesn't give a fuck about anyone or anything. Her first impression of Rosario from the moment she met him at the headmaster office: he was cocky and overconfident. He had a lazy demeanour and considered everything to be a joke. Until he didn't, then he could become serious and dangerous. But this letter? This letter felt different. Honest. Sad. Hopefull. Sofia had no idea how to feel about that.

Unfortunately, Rosario was very serious with getting her "home", which couldn't be good because she was home. Her home was where Alessandro, Francesco and Valentino were.

So the fact that Rosario cared so much meant she was screwed.

❤️❤️❤️

When Alessandro entered her room Sofia waited for any reaction from him. She was certain he already knew about the painting and the letter.

"You're here for the letter, right?" Sofia asked.

"First of all I'm here to learn why you decided to skip school today," Alessandro asked seriously and Sofia's gaze shifted towards the floor.

"I just didn't feel like going" she shrugged her shoulders without really explaining anything.

"Has that something to do with you having to change a therapist?" Alessandro asked

Fuck. Why was he always so close?

"No" she denied, a bit too quickly.

"Sofia" he started with a warning tone.

"Leave me alone!" She burst out with anger without fully realizing what she was doing.

"Excuse me?" He asked, looking down at her. Now she felt really small.

"I'm sorry"

She could hear the long sigh he was letting out. Then he sat on her bed

"Do you mind if I read the letter you received?" It wasn't the question and Sofia could tell he was not pleased with her behaviour.

"I don't" she handed him the letter.

She patiently waited for him to finish reading.

"He's not going to quit," Sofia said after she saw Alessandro placing the letter on her bedside table.

"That's unlikely" Alessandro agreed.

"What are we going to do? I don't want to live with him"

Okay, the letter was a nice thing. So was the painting. But Sofia had too much going on to get thrown in between the fight of Denaros with Ianniellos. Just no.

"Then I will make sure you won't meet him," Alessandro said simply.

"That person spend million dollars to give me a gift it's relevant to me. Maybe give we should give it back?"Sofia asked. She felt guilty about receiving a gift from someone she wouldn't take a risk of meeting.

"There's no reason to do that," he said and got up.

"I don't want that person to think I owe them something," she said awkwardly.

Glimmers of amusement appeared in Alessandro's eyes. "You don't owe Rosario anything, don't worry about that"

Maybe that's how Alessandro felt, but not Sofia. Despite his assurance that she didn't owe Rosario anything, she felt horrible for giving up on him and the rest of her brothers without even meeting them first. It felt wrong.